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Oklahoma Senate
State Sen. John Ford said Thursday that Oklahoma should consider replacing the current End of Instruction tests for high school graduation with the ACT. Thats after the State Regents for Higher Education voted to approve Oklahomas Priority Academic Student Skills (PASS) as being college and career ready based on alignment to ACT college and career ready standards.
read more.President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman today issued the following statement on the passing of former Senator Jack Short. Short, a Republican, represented District 46 in the Oklahoma Senate from 1966 to 1970, and subsequently had a lengthy career as an attorney.
“On behalf of the Senate, I would like to offer our condolences to the family of Jack Short,” said Bingman, R-Sapulpa. “He served his state and his clients well over the course of a long and distinguished career, and his work will not be forgotten. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.”
read more.Sen. Josh Brecheen, R-Colgate, today issued the following statement in response to a ruling of the Supreme Court against Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriage.
“The voices of Oklahoma citizens have once again been ignored today by federal judges. Oklahoma voters made their beliefs very clear in 2004 when they overwhelmingly voted against legalizing gay marriage. The majority of us as Oklahomans believe in the traditional definition of marriage, which is between one man and one woman, and that strong belief should be honored.
read more.As proud members of the leadership of the Oklahoma Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, and the larger National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses network, we are proud to join like-minded legislators from across the nation in celebrating the 42nd National Hunting and Fishing Day. Today, we will recognize the time-honored traditions of hunting and angling, as well as the historical and current contributions of the original conservationists – hunters and anglers – in supporting sound, science-based wildlife management through license sales, excise taxes on outdoor gear, and sustainable use models.
read more.Senator Connie Johnson traveled to the nation’s Capital Wednesday to meet with dozens of members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, state and local officials, and business and community leaders for a one day No Labels National Strategic Agenda Meeting. The meeting served as the kick-off to a yearlong process that that will set a vision for where America needs to go and how we will get there.
read more.Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman today issued the following statement in response to the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) filing a workers’ compensation premium level decrease for the state. Premium levels have now decreased by 22.4 percent in two years, following the Legislature’s passage of comprehensive workers’ compensation reform authored by Bingman in 2013.
read more.Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman today said the federal government’s decision to deny the extension of Oklahoma’s No Child Left Behind waiver will punish the state and further an agenda to control schools.
The decision could force Oklahoma schools to reexamine their budgets to comply with federal regulations. Bingman said the denial was a political statement intended to punish Oklahoma for implementing reforms that empower parents and communities and encourage the adoption of more rigorous educational standards.
read more.Sen. Dan Newberry today said most Oklahoma employers will pay lower unemployment taxes in 2015, due in part to key unemployment measures signed into law in recent years. Reforms have strengthened the state’s workforce system and unemployment insurance trust fund, allowing for lower unemployment benefit payments, he said.
As a result, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) this week announced that unemployment tax rates for all Oklahoma employers will be dropping to the minimum rate next year.
Sen. Dan Newberry is one of 48 state officials from across the country to be selected by the Council of State Governments (CSG) as a Henry Toll Fellow for the class of 2014.
The Toll Fellowship Program is one of the nation’s foremost leadership development programs for state officials. According to CSG, a nine-member panel of leaders reviewed a record number of applications to select this year’s class of Toll Fellows.
